Clubs may be asked to bid for AFLX licences

Presenting at a meeting of club chief executives, McLachlan outlined these options for AFLX, with the overriding point being that the AFL wished to keep that low-contact, modified and short form of the game continuing in future.

AFLX has attracted a mixture of derision and support, with much of the media critiquing negative, but the players who participated this year generally positive, when the all-star team concept was used.

The AFL’s football chief Steve Hocking, meanwhile, told the meeting that he felt the game was improved by the nine rule changes, although Hocking acknowledged – in response to a question – that he had thought the rules would increase scoring, which has declined further thus far.

Hocking told the clubs he felt the game was more open and that it had a better feel.

He said there had been a marked increase in scoring in the first minute after a centre bounce, in what would be caused by the six-six-six rule this year.

The meeting of CEOs was also notable for the screening of a documentary on Adam Goodes and the booing that saw the champion sit down for a period in the 2015 season.

The clubs’ reaction to the documentary, The Final Quarter, was described as sober, in what was seen as an education for those who saw it.

One of the major talking points of the meeting was the soft cap for football department spending.There was significant support for consolidating the soft caps of both men’s and women’s football in the AFL, though obviously this would mean a different cap for clubs that did not field AFLW teams.

The meeting also discussed the expansion of AFLW and women’s football.